Women are now almost twice as likely as men to feel ‘on the back foot’ on retirement planning as the Coronavirus pandemic battered their confidence, according to a new report.

Nearly half (47%) of people in work says they do not know how to plan for their retirement.

Women are twice as likely as men to be in the dark about how to manage their pension as they get closer to retirement (34% vs. 14%), according to new research from Aviva which has a wide range of pensions and SIPPs.

Separate research from TISA and EY found that women were significantly more likely to feel overwhelmed by the range of financial options available (62% of females agreeing vs 47% of males). 

Compared to men, women said they are significantly more likely to struggle to know where to start when it comes to making investment decisions (24% for females vs 16% for males). 

Women were more likely to be overwhelmed by the range of investment options available. A quarter (24%) of women gave a lower confidence rating for savings, compared to 14% of men, and 56% of women gave a lower confidence rating for investments compared to 36% of men. 

Almost half (46%) of UK consumers surveyed by TISA and EY indicated they do not have the confidence to make investment decisions. Almost two in five (19%) said the same about making savings decisions.

Nearly half (47%) of workers surveyed by Aviva said they do not know how to plan for their retirement. Fewer than one in three (28%) said they felt secure in their knowledge of how to manage their pension as they get closer to retiring.

Two in five of those surveyed said they were pushing retirement to the back of their minds, including 39% of workers in ‘Gen X’ aged 40-54.

According to Aviva, the number of working people know how much they need to save for retirement has dropped sharply during the pandemic, from 61% in February 2020 to 52% now.

Workers were open to receiving pension planning support.

Nearly three in five (59%) workers were open to receiving pension planning support at work to help them identify how much they need to pay into their pension to live well once they retire. Almost one in four (23%) said they would like to be offered support on how to manage their pension as they approached retirement, while one in five (20%) would like more support on pension options.

EY Seren surveyed 2,039 UK consumers with a household income of over £20,000 and investible assets of over £1,000 in May 2021.